Home is where the heart is for Tommy Collins as he resumes his efforts to make waves in the super lightweight division.
The next step comes on home turf at the H Suite in Edgbaston, Birmingham, during a weekend double-header of shows staged by BCB Promotions, set for October 16 and 17.
Collins will see action on Sunday, in a fourth pro outing for the unbeaten 23-year-old and his second of 2021, after outpointing Clayton Bricknell on an outdoor show in May.
A rain-sodden Sheffield Arena car park was the backdrop for their clash, with Collins keeping up his flawless record of winning every round as a pro so far.
All three of his victories have been by a 40-36 scoreline, the previous two coming within four months of each other, after his late 2019 debut.
Paul Ducie was vanquished on his pro bow, before he returned to the Holte Suite at Aston Villa Football Club to thwart MJ Hall in 2020.
Collins, who is from Northfield, turned over after solid amateur grounding, under Tom Chaney, at Hall Green Boxing Club, with 66 victories racked up from 76 bouts.
He won 17 area titles in national competition and was a national finalist in the 2016 England Youth tournament, also representing his country at youth level.
His dad, Dean, now serves as his coach, with most of their training taking place in the boxing-equipped garage at their family home.
And, having put himself through the long haul in the sparring ring, ‘Tommy Gun’ reckons he will be firing on all cylinders come fight night.
He said: “I’d give myself eight out of 10 for last time, it was a decent performance against a good opponent, but the conditions were difficult.
“The show was outdoors and it had rained, so I was slipping all over the place, at one point. All things considered, I boxed well, considering I thought I was going to fall over!
“It’s fantastic to have this fight date in Birmingham, it’s been 18 months since I’ve boxed at home and I felt like I had a bit of momentum going then.
“The pandemic threw a spanner in the works, but I just want to get going again now and then stay as busy as I can. I’ve got to try and fast-track myself.
“I’m not in that much of a rush, because I’m still young, but I’ll be looking at some sort of title in the next couple of years. I want to test myself against the top boys.
“I’m determined to go as far as I can but, sometimes, you have to take a bit of a backward step and think about what you’re doing. We will talk about what comes up, as a team.
“My dad has always been my main influence, when it comes to boxing. In my mind, we are the best partnership there is, like Batman and Robin!
“I still live at home, we’ve got a garage kitted out with equipment and I do most of my training there, but we go out a lot for sparring. I’ve been doing six, eight, even 10 rounds.
“I can’t wait to demonstrate my skills again. I haven’t got a stoppage yet but that’s hard to do, against durable journeyman, so I’m not too bothered about that.
“Four rounds is not a long time in there, to be honest. When I go over longer distances, with lads who are going for it as much as me, it could well happen then.”
Tickets for the two Birmingham bills are available now, priced at £40 standard or £75 VIP ringside with buffet per day, directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com.
